The State of Infrastructure Funding in Arkansas
Constructing bridges, repairing roads, and designing and building new roads is expensive. No one questions that. Then there are exceptionally large projects that are hugely expensive and vastly different than a county repairing two miles of neglected road. Think 30 Crossing, the new bridge over the Arkansas River at Barling, the new Springdale bypass, and the Broadway Bridge in downtown Little Rock that really gave the city a new centerpiece.
Each of those projects has improved life in a specific region of Arkansas, created jobs and economic growth, and made it easier for families to get the kids to a dental appointment, dance competition, or basketball practice, and then swing by the grocery store to pick up dinner.
Every single person on the Arkansas Highway Commission, in leadership roles at ARDOT, and working for the hundreds of contractors who design, build, fund, and repair roads takes the work of building new projects seriously. Planning and budgeting are done thoughtfully to maximize federal and state tax dollars entrusted to the department.
At the 2026 Good Roads Summer Meeting, ARDOT Director Jared Wiley presented economic trend numbers that gave our members a better sense of the discussions ahead. To be very clear, the department is getting work done every day and is not suggesting this is an immediate crisis, but in terms of strategic thought over the long term, there are issues we all should be considering.
Cost
Fiscal priorities for most states are generally education, prisons, healthcare, and infrastructure development. These core issues make it complex at times for most state budgets to make state needs match available budget. In the Arkansas infrastructure world, labor costs are up 59%, the cost of moving utility lines to repair or build new roads has doubled, national construction costs have jumped 70%, and heavy-duty road equipment costs 40% more than it used to.
In 2010, the cost of building a mile of new road in Arkansas was $6.6 million; today, it is $26.1 million. Widening a road from two to five lanes cost $3.9 million in 2010, and that cost jumped to $11.6 million in 2026.
In a state full of outdated bridges, the construction cost of a new bridge has jumped from $106 per square foot in 2010 to $350 today. That’s a 300% increase in 16 years.
Inflation continues to push up the price of any road or bridge project, and available federal and state revenue streams to pay for the work are under pressure. In 1980, state general revenue was one billion dollars. Of that amount, 14.4% was spent on roads. The 2020 budget was just shy of eight billion in general revenue, and 10.3% of that went to infrastructure work.
Something that sometimes gets lost in this larger discussion is the fact that the state passes along significant funding to Arkansas cities and counties. This funding supports local infrastructure work in communities like Monticello, Conway, El Dorado, and Warren. The projection for fiscal year 2029-2030 is that the state will send $162 million to cities and $162 million to counties. If the Issue 1 sales tax extension statewide vote had not passed in 2022, every city and county would have lost roughly 30% of their local road budget.
The funding headed to cities and counties doesn’t pay for projects that “would be nice to have”. It pays for the fundamental year-to-year repair work that is critically important to mayors and county judges trying to stretch their budgets to deal with aging infrastructure. Most county judges will tell you they spend more time on road issues than anything else they do.
More than anyone, mayors across the state certainly understand that people who pay taxes are as worried about the potholes in their neighborhood as they might care about a massively complex project to build a new bridge over the Arkansas River. More than ever before, the $324 million the state gives gives to communities and counties is critically important.
Local Input Matters
As Arkansas leaders contemplate thoughtful strategies to deal with growing needs, increasing inflation, and the cost of labor and materials increasing monthly, ARDOT is constantly hosting community meetings. These early-stage discussions about proposed work in an area are an opportunity to have face-to-face conversations with ARDOT staff. As the number of community meetings associated with projects has increased, the department has also put a dashboard on its web page allowing easy access to work that has been promised, paid for, and completed. It’s worth a look.
These community meetings are just part of a larger ARDOT strategy. Since taking on the role of ARDOT Director, Jared Wiley has dramatically increased communication efforts across the board to make the spending at the department more understandable and transparent than ever.
Discussing infrastructure funding issues in Arkansas is always, to some degree, a geographic issue. More than ever, we are a state with massive differences in growth issues. At the summer meeting in July, Mike Malone of Economic Leadership LLC Consulting gave a presentation on economic trends in the region, the state, and the country. From 2019 to 2024, Northwest Arkansas grew its population by 68,290 people. Little Rock’s population increased by 26,827. Jonesboro grew by 2717 while Fort Smith, Pine Bluff, and Texarkana saw population decreases.
Northwest Arkansas leaders will tell you that the unprecedented growth in the region means the area always has a shopping list of needed projects and improvements. But spend a day in the Delta, and communities will tell you with equal intensity that the region desperately needs certain roads upgraded to help a struggling economy. There are no simple answers to tough questions about how resources should be allocated.
Convening the Conversation
On the next page, you will see two key slides; you will see some of the budget Wiley used in his presentation at the Good Roads Summer Meeting. One shows ARDOT revenue trends against state budget growth over the years. The other shows increasing costs in bridge and road work. They will give you more context on these funding and cost trends.
At Good Roads, we remain committed to convening thoughtful discussions about the future. Infrastructure development is something we will be talking a lot about in the next couple of years and beyond. We need to take steps now to do the work and create the jobs that are important to our state. We need to build a state where young people want to live. And we need to remember the simple reality all states face now: thousands of bridges and roads are simply old and getting older each day.
Stay engaged, stay informed. And put that phone down when you drive.
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